PM Narendra Modi recently met with the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and signed five agreements including a pact awarding a consortium of Indian oil companies a 10% stake in offshore oil concession.
Welcoming the PM, the Crown Prince as well as the Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, tweeted, “We warmly welcome our state guest and valued friend, the Indian Prime Minister H.E.@narendramodi to the UAE. His visit reflects our longstanding historical ties and is testament to our friendly bilateral relationship.”
During the meeting they held wide-ranging talks after which the two sides signed five agreements related to energy sector, railways, manpower and financial services.
A statement wasnnissued by the Indian embassy in Abu Dhabi that said, “An MoU between the Indian Consortium (OVL, BPRL & IOCL) and the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) was signed for the acquisition of a 10% participating interest in the Abu Dhabi’s offshore Lower Zakum Concession. The concession will be for 40 years from 2018 to 2057, with 60% of the participating interest will be retained by ADNOC and remaining 30% will be awarded to other international oil companies. This is the first Indian Investment in upstream oil sector of UAE, transforming the traditional buyer-seller relationship to a long-term investor relationship.”
India and the UAE signed an MoU to institutionalise the collaborative administration of contractual employment of Indian workers in the Gulf country. Under the MoU, both the sides will work to integrate their labour related e-platforms for ending the existing malpractices, combat trafficking and organise collaborative programs for education and awareness of contractual workers. The MoU was signed to cooperate in the field of manpower.
An MoU for technical cooperation in railways was signed between the two sides as well with an aim to cooperate in infrastructure sector especially railways.
It was stated that, “The MoU will facilitate development of joint projects, knowledge sharing, joint research and technology transfer. The MoU envisages formation of a Joint Working Group for institutionalising the cooperation mechanism.”
An MoU between Bombay Stock Exchange and Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange was also signed to enhance cooperation between both the countries in financial services industry. It also aims to facilitate investment in financial markets by investors from both the countries.
An MoU between the Government of Jammu and Kashmir and DP World was also signed to establish multi-modal logistics park and hub in Jammu comprising warehouses and specialised storage solutions.
